(Accomack County, Va.) – The Eastern Shore Health District announced that two residents of the Eastern Shore have tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). These cases mark the first known cases in the Eastern Shore Health District. It is believed that these cases were travel-related and was not acquired through local community spread. The Eastern Shore Health District is currently conducting a thorough investigation of the case and any potential exposures.
“We are not surprised to see our first positive COVID-19 case in the District. This reinforces the significant importance of social distancing,” said Eastern Shore Health District Director Dr. Richard Williams. The health department continues to conduct surveillance and investigation of any future potential cases. This is a continually evolving situation in Virginia and nationwide, and the Eastern Shore Health District will continue to keep people informed.
Most patients with COVID-19 have only mild to moderate symptoms. However, in a small proportion of patients, COVID-19 can lead to more severe symptoms, including death, particularly among those who are older or those who have chronic medical conditions. Symptoms include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. Symptoms appear within 14 days of being exposed to an infectious person. COVID-19 spreads primarily through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
To lower the risk of spreading respiratory infections, including COVID-19, the Virginia Department of Health encourages the following effective behaviors:
•Stay home when you are sick.
•Practice social distancing. Maintain at least 6 feet of space between yourself and other individuals when out in public.
•Avoid contact with sick people.
•Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.
•Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds; use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
•Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
•Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
This is a rapidly changing situation, and information is being shared as it becomes available on the following websites: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus or www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/. Please consult www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus for the latest number of COVID-19 cases in Virginia.
Residents should call 757-787-5880 with questions about the novel coronavirus situation.
Note: This case is not included in the totals posted on the VDH website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.
It is good to see advice or guidance on this COVID HYSTERIA finally coming from a real doctor, instead of a bunch of hack politicians playing at being doctors.
The question unanswered now is what is to be done with all the waste generated by people with COVID outside of the hospital setting.
In the hospital setting, tissues and such I believe are treated as clinical medical waste.
What should be done with that waste generated outside of the hospital setting?
Speaking as a former health officer here, how long is it that we have known of the various corona viruses, which include the common cold?
Over fifty years now, isn’t it?
Consider the National Institute of Health publication “Coronaviruses: An Overview of Their Replication and Pathogenesis” by Anthony R. Fehr and Stanley Perlman which states in the conclusion as follows:
Conclusion
Over the past 50 years the emergence of many different coronaviruses that cause a wide variety of human and veterinary diseases has occurred.
It is likely that these viruses will continue to emerge and to evolve and cause both human and veterinary outbreaks owing to their ability to recombine, mutate, and infect multiple species and cell types.
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As to the corona virus itself, a natural predator of humans and other animals, the article states thusly, to wit:
Coronaviruses cause a variety of diseases in mammals and birds ranging from enteritis in cows and pigs and upper respiratory disease chickens to potentially lethal human respiratory infections.
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are the largest group of viruses belonging to the Nidovirales order, which includes Coronaviridae, Arteriviridae, and Roniviridae families.
The Coronavirinae comprise one of two subfamilies in the Coronaviridae family, with the other being the Torovirinae.
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So, from a public health standpoint, there is nothing new going on here, which takes us to Chapter 43, titled Viral Genetics, of Medical Microbiology, 4th edition, by W. Robert Fleischmann, Jr., where we have as follows concerning the evolution of viruses, to wit:
General Concepts
Genetic Change in Viruses
Viruses are continuously changing as a result of genetic selection.
They undergo subtle genetic changes through mutation and major genetic changes through recombination.
Mutation occurs when an error is incorporated in the viral genome.
Recombination occurs when coinfecting viruses exchange genetic information, creating a novel virus.
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And again, to the public health professional, as opposed to political hacks appointed by other political hacks to fill positions that should be filled by real professionals, but are not for political reasons related to patronage, that is nothing new – the fact that a virus, a very efficient predator, is constantly changing to beat the human immune system, which takes us back to that article as follows:
Finally, coronaviruses are also known for their ability to recombine using both homologous and non-homologous recombination.
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And again, that was what Donald Rumsfeld would have called a “known known,” so why are we being so freaked out by this new corona virus, as if we didn’t have any kind of clue this could happen?
As to what we knew about corona viruses before this novel strain came around sometime around New Years, we have as follows:
Human Coronaviruses
Prior to the SARS-CoV outbreak, coronaviruses were only thought to cause mild, self-limiting respiratory infections in humans.
Two of these human coronaviruses are α-coronaviruses (HCoV-229E and HCoV-NL63) while the other two are β-coronaviruses (HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1).
HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43 were isolated nearly 50 years ago while HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-HKU1 were only recently identified following the SARS-CoV outbreak.
These viruses are endemic in the human populations, causing 15–30% of respiratory tract infections each year.
They cause more severe disease in neonates, the elderly, and in individuals with underlying illnesses, with a greater incidence of lower respiratory tract infection in these populations.
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The word “endemic” means “of a disease or condition regularly found among particular people or in a certain area.”
As to a “cure:”
To date, there are no anti-viral therapeutics that specifically target human coronaviruses, so treatments are only supportive.
Only limited options are available to prevent coronavirus infections.
Vaccines have only been approved for IBV, TGEV, and Canine CoV, but these vaccines are not always used because they are either not very effective, or in some cases have been reported to be involved in the selection of novel pathogenic CoVs via recombination of circulating strains.
Despite this success, vaccine development for coronaviruses faces many challenges [107].
First, for mucosal infections, natural infection does not prevent subsequent infection, and so vaccines must either induce better immunity than the original virus or must at least lessen the disease incurred during a secondary infection.
Second, the propensity of the viruses to recombine may pose a problem by rendering the vaccine useless and potentially increasing the evolution and diversity of the virus in the wild.
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That to a public health professional is what we have known for some long time now about these corona viruses, which brings us to this, to wit:
Owing to the lack of effective therapeutics or vaccines, the best measures to control human coronaviruses remain a strong public health surveillance system coupled with rapid diagnostic testing and quarantine when necessary.
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And there is where it all went to hell in a handbasket, as we are witnessing right now with all this confusion and hysteria and hype – that strong public health surveillance system to control human coronaviruses is broken, and here in the corrupt state of New York, has been dismantled, by Andy Cuomo, the present governor, and his father Mario, back in 1988.
So now we are overwhelmed and surprised?
Go figure.